Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683–1741) - Wayfaring Tree and Vetch - Litograph (18th Century)

This plate combines two contrasting plant forms in an elegant botanical composition: the wayfaring tree and vetch. The wayfaring tree is shown as leafy branches with broad, softly textured leaves, bearing flat-topped clusters of small white flowers alongside berries at various stages of ripening. Beside it, the vetch extends delicate climbing stems with finely divided pinnate leaves and slender tendrils, adding a light, rhythmic counterpoint to the denser woody branches. The careful balance between shrub and vine, flower and fruit, reflects the descriptive precision and decorative harmony typical of eighteenth-century natural history illustration. The plate belongs to the Phytanthoza Iconographia, published in Regensburg between 1737 and 1745. This great florilegium of more than a thousand plates was one of the first botanical works produced in mezzotint, a technique valued for its rich tonal modelling. The method gave the plants a sense of volume and life and made the series one of the outstanding achievements of Baroque botanical printmaking.

Johann Wilhelm Weinmann (1683–1741) was a German apothecary and botanist based in Regensburg, where he ran a well-known pharmacy and served as a member of the city council. Over many years he gathered a substantial collection of plants and botanical drawings, which became the foundation of the Phytanthoza Iconographia. To realise the project, Weinmann collaborated with eminent artists and engravers, including Georg Dionysius Ehret, Bartholomäus Seuter, Johann Jakob Haid and Johann Elias Ridinger. The work remains one of the most important and sought-after botanical publications of its age.

Artist or Maker: Johann Wilhelm Weinmann
Dimensions: Approximately 40 cm x 24 cm.
Medium: Litograph.
Date: 18th Century.
SKU: PLA-0930-2

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